Day 341

This is the room where all the talks were held. Quite the contrast: Renaissance frescoes and quantum physics. more...

Day 340

The bane of my week. Do you know how LOUD pigeons are?!! Especially when they're sitting on your windowsill at 4 am. more...

Day 339

The perfect picnic spot...





...for a perfect picnic.

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Day 338

During our outing to Arezzo, we stumbled upon what I gather was a police conference of some sort. It entailed a great deal of medieval-ish pomp and ceremony, including these absolutely amazing flag guys. I was impressed.





Before the pomp and ceremony kicked off, there was a considerable amount of standing about doing nothing. I felt sorry for all these guys - their outfits looked hot. The ones in chain mail probably had it the worst.




But hey, they looked good! I was a bit bemused that they were playing Beethoven. Finally someone explained that "Ode to Joy" is the official hymn of Europe.




A medieval cross in a church.




The cathedral in Arezzo.



And last but not least, (one of) the chimaera(e). That fountain looked pretty nice by then...

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Day 337

I was lucky enough to get to stay at the spectacular Renaissance villa where the conference was held. This was the view from my bedroom window.





The view from the piazza in Cortona where the restaurant for the conference dinner was located.




I was drawn to the light of the setting sun down a random street.




Swallows circling the town hall. Noisy!

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Day 336

Today's itinerary: taxi to Leeds-Bradford airport, plane to Pisa, bus to Florence, train to Camucia, taxi to Il Palazzone di Cortona. Fortunately all went smoothly and it was a beautiful day. more...

Day 335

An end-of-the-year card from my students. They've been amazing and I shall miss them. more...